Cubs Hint at Paying for Renovations

By Ben Strauss

Jan. 20, 2013

CHICAGO — Like the woebegone teams it has put on the field in recent seasons, Chicago Cubs management has struck out the last three years when it comes to renovating Wrigley Field, the aging yet treasured ballpark on this city’s North Side. But while the Cubs — and their long-suffering fans — will soon begin another rebuilding year, there is no such patience for the future of Wrigley.

In a ballroom at a downtown hotel Saturday, Cubs executives delivered a presentation titled “Restoring Wrigley Field” during the team’s annual fan convention. It is an ambitious construction project that will include renovations to the interior, exterior, baseball facilities and infrastructure of one of the crown jewels of American stadiums.

Colorful artistic renderings showed a fan deck in left field, expanded suites and concourses, and a restored outer facade to its 1930s design. The amenities and aesthetic changes will go hand in hand with larger and updated clubhouses (including indoor batting cages accessible during games) and a nuts-and-bolts infrastructure overhaul that will replace the current wood roof as well as concrete and seats in the lower bowl and upper deck.

There has been no official financing agreement reached with the city, but the Cubs indicated Saturday for the first time that the Ricketts family, which owns the team, may be prepared to pay for the renovations. The Cubs expect the work to be completed over five off-seasons at a cost of $300 million and would like to break ground next year.

A standing-room-only crowd of fans was on hand for the announcement, drawn to learn the fate of their beloved ballpark, which opened in 1914. General Manager Jed Hoyer cited the example of Fenway Park, where he and the Cubs president for baseball operations, Theo Epstein, were involved in a decade-long project while both worked in the Red Sox’s front office.

Architects and engineers leading the renovation traveled to Fenway, as well as the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., and Lambeau Field, the home of the Packers. All are stadiums that pride themselves on strong traditions that have undergone recent improvements to help them generate more revenue while still maintaining the allure of antiquity.

“The thing we got that was very clear was you don’t change the field,” said Steven Jacobsen, a restoration consultant on the Wrigley project. “You can get better seats, but you don’t change the dimensions. You preserve that feeling a fan has walking up to his seat and seeing the field.”

Image

Officials shared plans with fans Saturday for an ambitious construction project at Wrigley Field.CreditCourtesy of the Chicago Cubs

Since buying the Cubs and Wrigley in 2009 for $845 million, the Ricketts family has sought aggressively to renovate the stadium. In 2010, a bill in the state legislature seeking state bonds to help finance the project stalled amid severe backlash to public assistance with Illinois facing financial difficulties.

In May 2012, there were hopes a deal was near before a report in The New York Times detailed the patriarch of the Ricketts family, Joe Ricketts, was considering financing a race-baiting ad campaign against President Obama. Joe Ricketts has no involvement with the day-to-day operations of the Cubs, but Chicago’s mayor, Rahm Emanuel, Obama’s former chief of staff, reportedly cut off negotiations.

Tax dollars are off the table for now, but the team is still in talks with the city, which must approve the project. The hope, the Cubs said, is that by paying for the project privately, they will be able to loosen some of the zoning and landmark restrictions in and around Wrigley, located in a densely populated urban neighborhood. The Cubs would like to close down neighboring streets for fairs on game days, in the model of Yawkey Way next to Fenway, as well as schedule more night games and concert events and expand advertising inside the stadium. Additionally, the Ricketts family also has a deal with the Starwood Hotels chain to build a Sheraton hotel across from Wrigley on Clark Street.

“We’d like to run our business without restrictions,” said Crane Kenney, the Cubs’ president for business operations. “If this is an asset that is going to be restricted, then we should get some help. If we’re not going to be restricted, then it’s right to ask us to do this ourselves.”

The chairman Tom Ricketts told fans: “We’re not a museum. We’re a business.”

Cubs fans, for the most part, appeared pleased with what was in store for Wrigley. An especially boisterous cheer greeted the news that bathroom capacity would be increased by 42 percent.

“I think the Ricketts family did it the right way,” Therese Pudela, 37, said. “They’re preserving what Wrigley is, what it means to all of us.”

The only noticeable rumble came with the announcement that a Jumbotron is still under consideration.

“People boo that because they don’t want the Jumbotron,” said Joe Hafenscher, 80, who said he attended the 1945 World Series at Wrigley. “I’m concerned that in the quest for modernization we may lose the charm that once was Wrigley Field.”

A version of this article appears in print on , Section D, Page 10 of the New York edition with the headline: Cubs Hint at Paying for Renovations. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe